


The Field Medic & The Doctor

by TheSunshineDragon



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Attempt at healing, Gen, Mentioned Breakdown (Character), Platonic Relationship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSunshineDragon/pseuds/TheSunshineDragon
Summary: "I miss Breakdown. Like, in the it-haunts-me-almost-every-day kind of miss him."Knock Out's been trying his best not to dwell on the past since settling on Cybertron and into his new job as Ratchet's counterpart in the medical bay, but sometimes his dreams won't leave him alone.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	The Field Medic & The Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> I am stressed and 100% procrastinating on my school, so here we are. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Ratchet had finally gotten used to having Knock Out as an assistant. The snarky or sassy comments and replies, the constant obsession of a shiny and scratch-less finish (though Ratchet found that Knock Out wasn’t afraid to get his finish scratched if he was focused enough in his work), and the detailed organization of everything in the Cybertron Medical Bay. And he meant _everything_ (who knew Knock Out was such a neat freak?).

Ratchet knew something was off the morning that Knock Out came in. He looked tired and was incredibly moody.

“Good morning.”

No response.

Ratchet frowned briefly, but let it slide, guessing that Knock Out was simply running low on recharge, as he was. Being the only two medical officers on Cybertron meant a lot of work and the past couple of weeks had been especially busy with a fleet of returnees and an outbreak of a virus among the Vehicons who had switched to the Autobot cause. They both were tired from the work and had yet to have a break from it all.

The two worked for several hours, with little conversation. Knock Out continuously banged things around the med bay and was very rude with the patients that came in. After the fifth patient left promising to talk to Ultra Magnus about the “scrapping Decepticon who didn’t deserve to be among the Autobot ranks,” Ratchet approached Knock Out.

“Knock Out, what is going on? You can’t treat patients like that!”

“Fine!” Knock Out threw his servos in the air. “Tell that to the _one bot_ on Cybertron who has a record so bad, he can’t leave it behind him!”

Ratchet blinked once, then sighed. “Look, Knock Out, you were pardoned from your previous crimes…”

“Which everyone continues to _incessantly_ remind me of.”

“...and you know that there are rules to follow as to the treatment of patients,” Ratchet continued, getting exasperated. The doors suddenly slid open, welcoming yet another patient. The field medic and the doctor glanced at the bot, then back at each other.

“Look, we’ll continue this conversation later,” Ratchet said quietly, placing a servo on Knock Out’s shoulder. “For now, let me treat the rest of the patients. Why don’t you go organize the new supplies?” It wasn’t a request.

“Fine.” Knock Out stomped off and Ratchet went to attend the patient.

* * *

Knock Out harshly punched the code in for the storage room.

_Knock Out laughed as he walked down the hall of the Nemesis. Breakdown was next to him, telling him Earth jokes that he had heard._

Knock Out pulled up a checklist of the supplies and started in the back. “Don’t think about it, don’t think about it,” he muttered to himself.

_The two best friends entered the medical bay. Knock Out turned to face Breakdown. Except, he wasn’t there._

_“Breakdown?” he called. “Breakdown?”_

Knock Out nearly broke a jar as he set it down. He tried to shove the memories of last night away, but they relentlessly swirled around his CPU.

_“You could have saved me, Knock Out…” Breakdown’s voice echoed around him. “You...you could...have...saved me…” He turned to see the Terrorcon Breakdown right in his face. Knock Out yelled and backtracked quickly as Terrorcon Breakdown lurched towards him._

_“Energon...”_

_“No, no, no, no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”_

Knock Out felt like the walls were closing in on him.

_“Energon…”_

The word seemed to be echoing around him and growing closer. Any focus he had on organizing the supplies had vanished.

_“You could have saved me…”_

The vial in Knock Out’s servo shattered as he clenched it. Shards of the glass pierced his servo. It was the pain that lurched him out of the living nightmare. He breathed heavily, looked at his servo, then ran out of the storeroom.

* * *

Ratchet was working on a pile of paperwork when Knock Out came flying through the med bay, stopping only for a second for the doors to slide open, and running into the hall.

“Knock Out!” He yelled, going after him. He heard the sound of the bot transforming into his alt-mode and the squeal of tires as he rounded the corner. Ratchet transformed and peeled after Knock Out.

“Whoever is on monitor duty, can you get me eyes on a rogue lead head by the name of Knock Out?”

* * *

Knock Out drove straight into the wastelands just outside of Iacon City, where the base was located. Rebuilding was slowly starting to make its way outside of the city, but it would be awhile before it was totally rebuilt. Knock Out was solely focused on getting away from civilization as possible.

His wheels skidded on the rough terrain and he fishtailed. Knock Out just about did a half circle before his tires got a grip and he straightened out. He shot forward and zipped towards the horizon. A brief siren’s wail made him check his rearview mirror.

“Why can’t those scrapping Autobots just leave me in peace for once!” he grumbled, forcing the gas pedal to the floor. He just wanted to wallow in his grief, completely alone, and try to find some peace.

* * *

Ratchet turned his sirens on for a moment, knowing that if he didn’t alert Knock Out to his presence, he would probably have a buzz saw slicing across his chest plates.

The doctor was not pleasant when surprised.

“I’m getting too old for this,” he groused. He suddenly found himself in midair, wheels spinning. “WHOA!” He transformed and tumbled into a ditch. Grumbling all the while, he climbed out of it and transformed back, rolling in Knock Out’s dust.

_What is up with Knock Out?_


End file.
